Facebook introduces tool to let developers send push notifications

We download so many apps but quite often they get lost in the crowd and keep lying abandoned in some folder of our smartphones. Not any-more. In a bid to make every app count, Social networking giant Facebook is bringing a tool that will let developers create customizable push campaigns to interact with their users.

Facebook first introduced the push campaign tool at its F8 conference this year, and then opened a public beta last month.

The new tool is a part of Facebook’s Analytics for Apps mobile analytics solution, which is now used by 800,000 app developers. The platform basically lets developers discover how people are engaging with their app or product, while also helping them find new customers. Developers can also check out data associated with conversion rates, demographics of their audience and so on.

During the beta test of push campaigns, Facebook says it worked on making them faster, scalable and more reliable. It has now reached the point of taking the tool out of beta, so any developer can use this option.

Along with the launch, the audience targeting section has also been redesigned with a focus on streamlining the workflow, so it’s quicker to use.

According to Facebook, apps show “up to 180 percent higher retention” when users opt in to receiving push notifications. That makes sense; a Facebook study shows that one out of every five apps is downloaded but never even opened, and 60 percent of apps are used less than ten times.

As many users disable push notifications for their apps, Facebook is making in-app notifications available, too, as part of the push campaigns tool.

This lets developers send branded, rich media cards with photos, emoji, buttons and GIFs to their users, which could tell them about things like limited-time offers or reminders of items left in their shopping cart, for example.